In today’s hyper connected world, real expertise often gets drowned out by flashy credentials and self-promotion. But a London-based startup thinks it’s time for substance to take the spotlight and it just raised €3 million to make that happen.
Ethos is using artificial intelligence to find the kind of experts who rarely show up on your radar not because they aren’t brilliant, but because they aren’t playing the personal branding game. Backed by General Catalyst with participation from 8VC, Conviction, Common Magic, Interface, and high-profile angels from Sequoia, a16z, McKinsey, and SoftBank, Ethos is on a mission to connect real knowledge with real opportunity.
Co-founded by James Lo, formerly of McKinsey and SoftBank, and Daniel J. Mankowitz, an AI researcher from Google DeepMind, Ethos is solving a fundamental problem: how do you find people who truly know what they’re talking about when the internet rewards the loudest voices?
Their answer is to let AI do the hard work. Ethos’ platform scans millions of data points from academic research and GitHub contributions to blog posts and podcast appearances to create detailed, nuanced profiles of individual expertise. The goal? To move past surface-level indicators like job titles or alma maters and dig into what people have actually done and know.
Rather than waiting days for someone to manually source candidates, Ethos lets companies describe the knowledge they’re looking for and then instantly connects them with relevant experts. Think of it as a smarter, faster expert network one that doesn’t rely on who you know or how well you sell yourself online.
Currently, over 25 global investment firms and consultancies are already using Ethos for expert calls, particularly in high-stakes areas like due diligence and strategic decision-making. The platform allows these conversations to happen directly, with built-in tools for scheduling and payment, and it’s just getting started.
But Ethos isn’t just about helping investors and consultants. The startup envisions its tech powering everything from speaker matching at conferences to finding the perfect advisor for a startup or even revolutionizing how talent is recruited altogether.
At the core of it all is Ethos’ knowledge graph a massive, evolving map that connects people to their contributions across the digital economy. Instead of relying on prestige signals or algorithms favoring popularity, Ethos uses public data to evaluate what someone’s actually done. That means giving a voice to the quiet builders, researchers, and thinkers who often fly under the radar.
“In a world full of noise, Ethos is built to be the thoughtful listener,” the team says. “We’re matching people with opportunities in a way that goes beyond resumes and LinkedIn profiles. If we get this right, it has the potential to transform entire industries.”
Right now, the company is laser-focused on perfecting its expert call product an essential tool for finance and consulting firms looking for fast, high-quality insights. But the potential applications go far beyond that.
What sets Ethos apart is its conviction that talent isn’t something you always see sometimes, it’s buried in a GitHub repo, a niche blog post, or a podcast you never knew existed. Their AI is built to find that brilliance, wherever it lives.
As AI continues to reshape how we work and connect, Ethos is offering a fresh approach one that doesn’t just amplify the loudest voices but helps uncover the ones that actually matter.
